F-22 Raptor: $ 420 million a piece

Last week the Air Force officially received the last F-22 Raptor, number 4195, from defense contracting giant Lockheed Martin, completing an order of 187 planes that cost U.S. taxpayers an estimated $79 billion

So if calculating the research, deveopment and production, each F-22 Raptor costs around $ 420 Million.

They are the most advanced fighter jets ever built and combat-ready since late 2005, yet so far none of the F-22 Raptors has ever flown a combat mission.

Why? The rival jet fighters there are designed to combat, simple don't exist and it's a true fighter, quit useless for combat air-to-ground strikes or bombardments.

Now it seems the F-22 Raptor also has a small issue concerning reports of "hypoxia-like symptoms" in mid-air among the F-22 pilots. Hypoxia is caused by a lack of oxygen to the brain and is characterized by dizziness, confusion, lack of judgment and, eventually, unconsciousness.

Last year the Air Force grounded the full fleet of F-22s for nearly five months to investigate, but still no one knows what is going wrong, even as the planes are back in the air.

The F-22 Raptor was born of a Cold War mentality and as the Soviet Union dissolved, so did the need for the planes. The government and Lockheed Martin plugged on anyway. The fighters were first envisioned in the 1980s and the Air Force originally planned to buy some 720 of them, but in 2009 critics from across the political spectrum - from McCain to President Obama to then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates - came together to pressure Congress to cut off funding at just the 187 that had already been ordered.

Regardless of how the planes are eventually used, government spending on them is far from over. The Air Force says the planes, which currently conduct training and homeland security missions, cost $49,000 an hour to operate and a recent report from the Government Accountability Office says that the Pentagon plans to spend another $9.7 billion on upgrades to the planes that the manufacturer and the military had never planned on needing.

Still the development and production of the F-22 Raptor involved a period of almost 25 years and thousands of people. With the delivery of the last F-22 Raptor a small memorial movie was luanched on YouTube, commemoratiLast week the Air Force officially received the last F-22 Raptor, number 4195, from defense contracting giant Lockheed Martin, completing an order of 187 planes that cost U.S. taxpayers an estimated $79 billion.

So if calculating the research, deveopment and production, each F-22 Raptor costs around $ 420 Million. They are the most advanced fighter jets ever built and combat-ready since late 2005, yet so far none of the F-22 Raptors has ever flown a combat mission.

Why? The rival jet fighters there are designed to combat, simple don't exist and it's a true fighter, quit useless for combat air-to-ground strikes or bombardments.

Hypoxia-like symptoms for F-22 Pilots

Now it seems the F-22 Raptor also has a small issue concerning reports of "hypoxia-like symptoms" in mid-air among the F-22 pilots. Hypoxia is caused by a lack of oxygen to the brain and is characterized by dizziness, confusion, lack of judgment and, eventually, unconsciousness.

Last year the Air Force grounded the full fleet of F-22s for nearly five months to investigate, but still no one knows what is going wrong, even as the planes are back in the air.

History of the F-22 Raptor

The F-22 Raptor was born of a Cold War mentality and as the Soviet Union dissolved, so did the need for the planes. The government and Lockheed Martin plugged on anyway. The fighters were first envisioned in the 1980s and the Air Force originally planned to buy some 720 of them, but in 2009 critics from across the political spectrum - from McCain to President Obama to then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates - came together to pressure Congress to cut off funding at just the 187 that had already been ordered.

F-22 Raptor Future Costs

Regardless of how the planes are eventually used, government spending on them is far from over. The Air Force says the planes, which currently conduct training and homeland security missions, cost $49,000 an hour to operate and a recent report from the Government Accountability Office says that the Pentagon plans to spend another $9.7 billion on upgrades to the planes that the manufacturer and the military had never planned on needing.

The last and 187th F-22 Raptor, built number 4195

Still the development and production of the F-22 Raptor involved a period of almost 25 years and thousands of people. With the delivery of the last F-22 Raptor a small memorial movie was luanched on YouTube, commemorating the people working on the F-22.